This day in Cleveland history: LeBron makes The Decision to leave Cleveland Cavaliers (for the first time)

(Duane Prokop/Getty Images)

By Collin Cunningham

(CLEVELAND) Eleven years ago today is a day that many Clevelanders may not like to look back upon, but one that's important to the city's history. It was the day that LeBron James announced his first departure from the Cleveland Cavaliers, trading the wine and gold for the similar red and yellow of the Miami Heat jersey.

Per Cleveland.com, June 8, 2010, may have started as a normal day for the basketball legend, who had started his professional career with the Cavs in 2003, but it ended with a momentous decision. Maybe he got up, had some cereal from one of those big boxes of Wheaties his face was featured on, had some coffee.

But after a phone call with his mother, Gloria, LeBron went to bed on that fateful day knowing he would soon be off to Miami, also aware of the fact that he had brought upon himself the ire of an entire midwestern city.

"Hopefully the fans will be respectful but at the same time I don't expect them to be," James told the publication at the time. "It is going to be a challenge to go in there. ... They can have mixed emotions of course. Akron is always home for me. I'm going to still live there."

Of course, that criticism only lasted through 2014, when LeBron made his remarkable return to the Cavs, helping drive the team to its first NBA title just two years later in one of the most notorious series rebounds out of any professional sports team in history.

But rebounds can only last so long, and LeBron's rebound with the Cavs after a four-year affair with the Heat would only last until 2018 when the Akron native announced he would join the Los Angeles Lakers. With his current four-year contract set to expire next year, however, some are speculating that King James may have his eyes set on Cleveland for a third time.

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